RSU SGA 2010-2011

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Here at the SGA blog, we've decided to shake things up and take a fresh start. For those of you who haven't noticed, all of last year's posts are gone. That's because from now on this blog will be a collaborative effort between myself and the great Mr. Philip Jackson! If you stop by, please feel free to leave a kind word for our newest blogger and amazing Parliamentarian!

Monday, August 30, 2010

As always, I hope my readers will keep in mind that my blog is purely a representation of my own thoughts and musings, and to the best of my belief, nobody else has any undue influence on what I write.

It's been quite a while since I last posted, and much of this has been due to my own internal conflict. A new school year has just gotten underway, and although I love being back at RSU full time, it was a bit of a transition for me. I'm no longer the SGA Parliamentarian (Good luck, Philip!), and have gone back to being an elected senator, which is wonderful. I'm learning to take a less direct approach to SGA while employing the opposite tactic when it comes to homework. And, best of all, I've had the opportunity to talk to several new students about how they're looking forward to having a successful academic career at Rogers State.

Contemplating these changes has given me a newfound appreciation for the word perspective.

Perspective is, in my understanding (get it?), your personal viewpoint, your interpretation of the relationships between several subjects, or how you interrelate your ideas and concepts. This is important to me because I feel that while the topics we discuss within SGA meetings have limited effect, i.e. they have a point of origin and an end point, the way that we discuss them and how we interact together can have lasting effects.

When it comes to new ideas, new legislation, new proposals, it's so tempting to become entrenched in the known and familiar. Sometimes this can cause stagnation, and it becomes increasingly difficult to approach the new, the untested, and the uncertain. This stagnation makes it almost laughably easy for external influences to assert their own agendas over our potential, and we are left wondering who is really the voting body in a student government where the members are not encouraged to think for themselves, or to think of the students whom they represent.

I openly admit that I am not immune to these influences. Several times throughout my membership in SGA I've found myself at the brink of a decision, wondering what path I took to get there, fearful that I've either lost it or never truly had one to begin with. I've learned to appreciate those sharp moments of clarity when I remember to question myself, to question my motives, and to think outside of the confines of the four walls where our meetings take place.

Lately, each time I meet a new student, I've tried to genuinely consider how best I can help that one person through my involvement in SGA. A good example of this is a conversation I had with someone who confided in me that they had no academic advisor, and didn't know how to go about being assigned to one. This student was enrolled in classes, looking forward to seeing the semester through, but also worried that they wouldn't know best which classes to continue enrolling in on their own. I had a few ideas for how to go about finding an academic advisor, which I shared, and I directed this person to the Enrollment office, because I know that's where I started when I had similar questions and was new to this university. However, I don't think that this student should have to face that confusion and anxiety, and it brought me back to a question that I've struggled with throughout my entire (and considerably lengthy) academic career. Is there no one here who wants to help me?

I hope that when SGA meets this year, we will keep this question in mind. How many individuals on our campus would be willing to help us feel better prepared for college and everything that college includes? How many of those individuals would you accept help from? In a perfect world there would only be one answer: Everyone. Regardless of the answer, I will try to keep my perspective in check. I will try to be mindful of the external influences that attempt to sway my judgment, and I'll be on this blog, trying to help.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Today (yesterday, technically) I met with a few other students to discuss RSU's involvement in the Hillcub program. Through the Hillcub program, RSU students have the opportunity to raise materials (or funds) for a community elementary school, Claremont, by donating towards crayons for schoolchildren. I think this is a great project.

While in the meeting, I voiced a few frustrations that have been compounding in recent years. We likely all notice the late-summer rush to area stores as soon as school supply lists are posted. My question to RSU students is this: do we notice the lists themselves? Every now and then I pick up a random list just to see what's on it, and every year I'm amazed at the growing material requirements for students. It makes me wish that I knew a way to help beyond my limited means, and I think the Hillcub program is a step in that direction.

In all honesty, I worry about student involvement during the summer months. If school is a relationship, then our yearly three-month break from it is probably not an indicator of our relationship's success. Now, I'm not saying that we go to school year-round (I think I'm allergic to that concept), but I wish there were some way for us to still stay connected.

Why did I mention anything in that entire previous paragraph? Two reasons: 1) I tend toward unfortunate rambling, and; 2) the Hillcub idea could be a way for me to ease both my frustration with school supply lists--which I acknowledge sounds silly when I write it that way--and my desire to see students stay connected to the school throughout the summer months.

I have high hopes that when SGA President Adrean Shelly (who is kind of a ROCKSTAR) assists in announcing the Hillcub projects that students will get involved and make a difference. It's not just for the nameless, faceless crowd. It's for kids right here in Claremore, at a school that a lot of us went to. I might be a good guy (Westside kid), but I can still appreciate a great thing when I see it.